An Employer's Twilight Zone Hiring Experience

Sunday

Sep 30, 2012 at 6:00 AM

In the hiring world, employers often find truth is stranger than fiction. My daughter got first-hand "Twilight Zone" hiring experience. She is the executive director of a Downtown Development Authority. Its marketing director resigned a few weeks ago. An ad was placed; in part it read: bachelor's degree required; marketing degree preferred; merchant/community event experience and excellent writing skills required; prior work experience in a non-profit or municipality desirable; salary range $37K-42K; see www..... for a complete job description and submission requirements.

In the hiring world, employers often find truth is stranger than fiction. My daughter got first-hand "Twilight Zone" hiring experience. She is the executive director of a Downtown Development Authority. Its marketing director resigned a few weeks ago. An ad was placed; in part it read: bachelor's degree required; marketing degree preferred; merchant/community event experience and excellent writing skills required; prior work experience in a non-profit or municipality desirable; salary range $37K-42K; see www..... for a complete job description and submission requirements.

She received 143 resumes. Clearly, many applicants paid no attention to the ad's requirements, or the information on the Website. Seventy-two had no cover letter; they were immediately eliminated. Sixteen did not follow other address/submission requirements and were eliminated.

That left 55 - and she hadn't even started reading cover letter and resumes. Upon review, 15 had no college degree; 12 had associates degrees. Of the 28 with a B.S., only 15 were in marketing; many weren't in business fields.

Relative to "merchant/community event experience required", 15 of the 28 (including four of those with marketing degrees) had no event experience at all. Of those that did, responses included: wedding planners, banquet managers, those who sold products through in-home parties and a person who organized children's birthday parties. Not exactly the merchant/community background for the position.

"Prior work experience in a non-profit or municipality" was listed as desirable. Only eight had the experience; six of these had the marketing degree, too.

Here are some other things she noted. People don't proofread: Dear "Perspective" Employer - prospective; Please "except" my application - accept; I look forward "too" meeting you - to; I'd be an asset to "you're" organization - your; Marketing - "Its" my passion - It's; "Manger", Special Events - Manager. Grammar errors were more frequent. Any candidate whose resume contained a spelling or grammar error was eliminated because the ad said "excellent writing skills required." While this job is geared to written communication, I know many HR recruiters who believe that such errors in personal marketing material are indicators of poor work habits.

Resume objectives included: Sales, customer service, hotel catering, wedding planner, medical sales, social services and working with people with disabilities. What do any of these have to do with a marketing director's position? If you are going to put an objective in your resume, customize it to the ad.

My daughter's favorite cover letter said: "I expect I'll have your job within two years." Her second favorite was the one that actually applied for her job. Neither candidate made the initial cut.

The topper was the applicant who emailed a 63-page document package: a cover letter, a 4-page resume, college transcripts, copies of awards won and copies of proposals she wrote.

It took my daughter and her staff eight hours to come up with a list of eight viable candidates. Their task was to trim that list to five "ready to interview" candidates. Their approach was simple. They came up with six phone interview questions; three were based on the candidate's resume; three were based on information on the Downtown Development Authority's Website. Each would call two candidates. They'd compare notes and make decisions. If candidates were "on the bubble", my daughter, as executive director, would conduct a second phone interview.

There was no need to do second phone interviews as three candidates eliminated themselves. How? They stumbled over questions about accomplishments on their resumes and apparently did no research on the Downtown Development Authority - they could not answer questions about its community-building mission. One also asked if the salary was negotiable; the salary range was clearly stated in the ad to avoid such issues.

All five remaining candidates met the ad's degree and experience requirements. Three met the ad's marketing degree preference; four worked for a non-profit. Out of 143, there were five. Soon, there will be one.